Microsoft has sealed a virtualisation deal with Hewlett-Packard that will see the computer maker deploy systems loaded with Hyper-V.

Under the agreement, Microsoft has buddied up with HP to sell and market storage, server, networking tech and desktop virtualisation products to the all-important target market: SMEs.

Small and mid-sized companies have seen many tech giants come and go through the revolving door with their range of V goodies. Microsoft has perhaps been making the loudest noises in that area of late.

Vendors are gunning for diminutive businesses in the hope that as some build their small start-ups into beefy companies the bosses will stay loyal to the tech they started out with. Just don’t mention the economy, stupid.

Microsoft and HP will offer US customers products, training and deployment services for storage, networking and something they have dubbed “server consolidation”.

The tech beasts claimed that the tie-in will help customers decrease costs, increase biz agility, improve data access and protection, and raise employee productivity. Which is a big ask.

Meanwhile, Hyper-V and MS System Centre support has been added to the industry-standard HP Virtual Connect 10Gb Flex-10 module that works with the Flex-1o NIC found, handily enough for HP, in its sparkly new ProLiant BL495c virtualisation blade server.

There’s also a HP and Microsoft partner program, “Frontline”, aimed at Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Microsoft claimed that it has already registered 60 per cent of eligible partners across 36 countries to receive access to virtualisation training, sales tools, marketing materials, workshops and other goodies for the SME world.

This way for more marketing guff from Microsoft about today’s announcement. ®